


you're my weakness (you already know that)

by stonesnuggler



Series: erie forever, otters for life [2]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, F/M, First "I love you", Love Confessions, Morning After, Rule 63
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 17:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23600887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stonesnuggler/pseuds/stonesnuggler
Summary: Alex can feel him looking at her and it makes her shiver. She’s suddenly aware of the vulnerability of it all; messy hair, yesterday’s mascara smudged under her eyes, nothing but his t-shirt and one of her laundry-day pairs of underwear on. Dylan’s seen her like this before, has seen her much worse even, but this?This is a whole different animal.
Relationships: Alex DeBrincat/Dylan Strome
Series: erie forever, otters for life [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1196167
Comments: 15
Kudos: 57





	you're my weakness (you already know that)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [clear, sunlit, and barefoot](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14869379) by [lotts (LottieAnna)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LottieAnna/pseuds/lotts). 

> wow i missed these nerds. 
> 
> this scene was previously written in dylan's point of view by the lovely [charlie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LottieAnna/pseuds/lotts%C2%A0) with whom girl!alex was created. thank you for letting me write it in the POV of our girl ❤️ 
> 
> this is set immediately after the scene in [if i'm dreaming baby (please don't wake me up)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15120632) where dylan and alex sleep together for the first time. you don't necessarily have to read that one (or any of the other fics in the series) to understand this one but it would make my heart happy if you did 🥰
> 
> i've got a bunch more in store for these two so fear not, they'll be here for a while.

The sun is in Alex’s eyes when she blinks awake, so it’s understandable that it takes her a second to remember why she’s not in her own room. 

She sighs and stretches all the way down to her toes, yawning as she rubs the sleep from her eyes and turns over, heart skipping with the sight she’s met with.

Dylan’s mouth is parted slightly, one of his arms above his head and the other tucked under her, sprawling across her shoulders. There’s a hickey just under his collarbone, a matching one where his neck meets his shoulders and her chest warms at the memory.

“You don’t have to leave it so low,” Dylan had said, hand carding through her hair as she worked the mark into his skin. “We don’t have to hide.”

Alex had just shivered, pressing a kiss over the mark. “Yeah?”

“Maybe I want to show off,” Dylan said, and then Alex had abandoned the mark all together in favor of getting her lips back on his.

Now, though, in the easy still sunlight, he’s snoring a little, unbothered by the sun and she’s pretty sure she could get used to this.

She gets lost in the rise and fall of his chest for a moment before her body wills her to get up. She grabs a t-shirt off the floor on her way to the washroom, gathering her hair in a messy bun after pulling it on. It’s big on her, so it’s Dylan’s, and she’s pretty sure it’s not the cleanest thing in this room but she’s not fit to care about that right now.

She catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror as she turns to leave, unsurprised to see herself smiling without realizing it. There are a couple bruises just above her collar, visible where Dylan’s shirt has stretched a little and her face heats all over again. Small yet unmistakable, she pokes at one as she makes her way downstairs in search of coffee, letting the easy smile stay.

It’s brighter down here, sun streaming in through the sliding patio doors, onto the counter where Jen and Ron had left their note about being out for the weekend. She reads it over again before tossing it in the recycle bin and making her way over to the coffee pot.

It’s fighting her, again, because it always does even when she does everything correctly. She’s about to just say fuck it, mash at buttons until something happens when she hears the familiar footsteps of Dylan coming down the stairs.

She can feel more than see him stop at the doorway, lean against it with his arms crossed, something that easily translated from their friendship.

“I can’t believe you’re facing your greatest nemesis for me,” he says, voice rough with sleep. Hearing it makes her wish she never would’ve gotten out of bed.

“I can’t believe you wouldn’t let me buy them a Keurig as an anniversary present,” she says, picking a different button to push repeatedly. She hears him huff a laugh, can see him move toward her in the reflection of the chrome on the coffee maker.

He’s always been the opposite of a morning person, the direct one-eighty to her ability to greet the sun, so she’s not surprised when he stops, scrubs a hand over his face and waits for the morning to hit him.

Alex can feel him looking at her and it makes her shiver. She’s suddenly aware of the vulnerability of it all; messy hair, yesterday’s mascara smudged under her eyes, nothing but his t-shirt and one of her laundry-day pairs of underwear on. Dylan’s seen her like this before, has seen her much worse even, but this?

This is a whole different animal. She doesn’t particularly hate it.

Alex loves him. She loves his unmanageable curls and the way he hums when she curls around his back and the way he laughs with his whole face. She loves the way he’s Dylan, and he’s her best friend, but also so much more than that and she didn’t have to give anything up to get that.

It was always going to be him, she realizes. She always thought love was like a hard-fought win, or a no-look pass that hits the back of the net. It’s not; it’s a game-day superstition that has served you well, but changes as you do. Dylan is tried and true, changing her in ways she didn’t know she needed, letting himself be changed in return.

All for the better. 

She can’t help but smile at the warmth in her chest, ducking her head before turning to face him where he’s leaning against the island, and looking up at him feels like coming home.

“What’s up?” she asks, feeling the warmth in her chest envelope her all the way to the tips of her fingers.

He doesn’t answer at first, just walks a little closer to her, smiling like there’s no place he’d rather be. She’d bet there isn’t, and she relates.  _ God, _ does she relate.

“You’re so pretty,” he says, coming up next to her, tucking her hair behind her ear and she can’t do much else but look up at him.

She can’t do much else but wonder what she did to get this.

He’s looking at her in a way that makes her want to disappear as much as it makes her want to melt on the spot. It’s like looking directly into the sun after being stuck inside for weeks, so bright and so happy that she can feel the warmth on her face. 

“Stromer,” Alex manages, heart trying to climb out of her chest through her ribcage. She’s sure she’s smiling, but only Dylan would be any the wiser of that considering his own smile is pressed to hers seconds later. 

She loves him, she knows this, and she can feel how he loves her, too. In this, but in all the little things; all the hair braiding and wordless ice-cream grabbing; the House Hunters marathons and belly-aching laughter. She feels it every time their eyes find each other across the room, or every time their passes connect on the ice. Alex fits into his life the same way Dylan fits into hers -- seamlessly.

He should always be smiling, always be this happy, always be this loved.

She gets to have this. She gets to look at her best friend every day and think -- 

“I love you,” he says, pulling back and setting his forehead to hers. “Oh my god, I love you so much.”

Alex’s heart stops, or maybe the world does.

“God,” she sighs, laughs a little. “Good morning to you, too.” 

Dylan’s smiling, half a breath away from shaking out of his skin if the tremble of his hands at her hips gives anything away. 

“Sorry, you’re just –”

“I know,” she says, and maybe she doesn’t but she kisses him quick anyway. “I mean, you’re--” she takes a deep breath, rubs her nose against his once. “I love you, too.” 

Dylan’s smile makes her feel like she’s drowning, anchored only by her arms draped over his shoulders. 

“This is the greatest,” Dylan says. “This is the best thing we’ve ever done.”

Behind them, the coffee machine sputters and she can’t help the laugh that escapes. 

“You haven’t even tried my coffee yet,” she says.

“Don’t have to,” he says, punctuating it with a kiss, like he can’t survive without it. “I know your coffee’s shit.”

She smacks at his shoulder lightly, laughing. “You’re mean.”

“I’m in love with you,” he says, just because. “I’m in  _ love  _ with you, Alex.”

She’s smiling so hard that her cheeks are starting to ache, palms damp and heart hammering as she kisses him again, steady and sure in the morning sunlight. 

**Author's Note:**

> come talk to me on [twitter](https://https://twitter.com/debrinkitten%C2%A0) about these nerds and what you want to see about them next! dms are open, just lmk you're from the archive!


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